Touchstone (Under Edits)

The Arian

In a world only I can see...

10 year old Prince Sonnet sat quietly a his seat, looking out the window. Several young Arians flew by, quiet and quick. They wore the messenger uniform, the only ones allowed to fly so close to the castle.

The gardeners were working hard, wings fluttering to keep them warm on such a cool day. Beyond the gardens were the orchards and Sonnet could see movement. The golden apples should be ready. They were quite tart and were often baked so that meant apple pie was a sure thing on the menu some time this week.

A soft smile spread across his face and he sighed in contentment. Bella made the best pies and he could already taste the flaky-

"Prince Sonnet!"

The boy jerked and looked over at the weathered old man standing before him. A snort came from his left but he dare not look over or face another bellow.

"Please focus. The history of your country is essential for your growth and ability to rule. I know it may seem tedious to have to do this lesson yearly but it is the law."

Sonnet nodded meekly, his wings fluttering in apology. The tutor turned back to his books and officially began the lesson on the History of Ariadna.

"The Continent of Thoi holds 11 Kingdoms within its confines. We reside in Ariadna, the place where sky and earth meet. We are called this because we are the only country with floating islands, one of which this royal family resides on. In addition to this perfect land, we have Fendz-Teren, Amosia, Lilithiun, Rosaria, Entonia, Dun-Dobai, Fendz-Midian, Sky-Aria, Lundz, and Thoi-Centuria. Our closest neighbour is_ Eh-hem! Prince Terren, would you care to assist me?"

"Entonia to the east and Fendz-Midian to the south." Caught doodling, the prince only glanced at the elder before answering in a bored tone. He propped his hands on his chin and sulked.

"Very well." The old man smiled stiffly before droning on.

Sonnet looked over at his cousin again after half an hour and saw he was once again doodling on the corner of the paper. He looked away quickly so he wouldn't laugh. He was pretty sure it was a caricature of the teacher. His eyes were actually that tiny.

"The rulers of Ariadna have always been the Arian or winged people. They were born here on the sky islands called the Aria and the royal family have always been the bearers of the white wings." But there was something here that was incorrect. Some information that was wrong.

Sonnet nodded to let the man know he was still listening as he secretly started on his home work from that morning. He knew about the magnetic fields that left the land masses suspended in the air and about the experiments that allowed the then wingless Arian to give birth to winged children. The Royal family had produced the pure white wings and since then, the royal line has always chosen an heir due to this. Currently they had two. 

Only two.

When before there would have been as much as 20.

"The lands of Adena at the time were free for colonizing. Since the Sky islands were suspended directly over them, most persons moved on in fear that the islands would one day fall upon them. Then the Nomads came. Or, more appropriately, we should say they returned. They requested permission to farm the land, claiming that they wished to settle down and were tired of travelling for food and water. The Treaty of AN was created and Aria and Adena became what we now call Ariadna." While this story was written in the books, this was not the entire truth. The Princes were not aware of this thought. They were not aware of many things.

"Can we stop here?" Prince Terren suddenly asked. He was not the most patient of people. Sonnet was surprised he hadn't spoken up sooner. He softly closed his Arian text and pulled out the arithmetic, already knowing the answer.